At the embattled border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees project (UNHCR) is using a modern solution to solve a problem as old as war itself: making sure aid is distributed equally to those displaced by conflict. The agency is employing iris scanners to ensure that refugees who apply for aid in one of the designated registration centers have not done so before.An iris recognition camera at a UNHCR test center takes an iris image, or code, when a refugee files for humanitarian assistance. The system then send the image to a local server and scans the database to determine whether the unique iris code has already been stored. If not, the refugee is registered, the iris code is stored in the database and a customer information number (CIN) confirms the enrollment. If the refugee’s iris code is already in the database, the system returns an alarm and the person’s original CIN number. This registration and recognition process takes 20 seconds.The test phase of the iris recognition refugee enrollment system started at the UNHCR voluntary repatriation center in Takhta Baig, Pakistan, in September 2002. The project’s primary objective was to enroll all adult refugees. Within three weeks, there were 15,000 refugees registered. Now the database holds more than 100,000. Data is synchronized between all local servers every 24 to 48 hours so that all locations have current copies of all registered refugee iris scans in order to prevent multiple enrollments at different iris registration centers.“Because we work in the harshest of conditions, much of our attention goes to keeping the systems up and running and maintaining the installation,” says Machiel van der Harst, head of BioID Technologies, the Swiss company that developed the application and manages the enrollment operation with local staff. Related content brandpost ChatGPT and Your Organisation: How to Monitor Usage and Be More Aware of Security Risks By Hayley Salyer Jun 05, 2023 7 mins Chatbots Artificial Intelligence brandpost Who’s paying your data integration tax? Reducing your data integration tax will get you one step closer to value—let’s start today. By Sandrine Ghosh Jun 05, 2023 4 mins Data Management feature 13 essential skills for accelerating digital transformation IT leaders too often find themselves behind on business-critical transformation efforts due to gaps in the technical, leadership, and business skills necessary to execute and drive change. By Stephanie Overby Jun 05, 2023 12 mins Digital Transformation IT Skills tip 3 things CIOs must do now to accurately hit net-zero targets More than a third of the world’s largest companies are making their net-zero targets public, yet nearly all will fail to hit them if they don’t double the pace of emissions reduction by 2030. This puts leading executives, CIOs in particul By Diana Bersohn and Mauricio Bermudez-Neubauer Jun 05, 2023 5 mins CIO Accenture Emerging Technology Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe